1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of pay computer-controlled games, either games of skills or games of chance, and more particularly to the field of cashless gaming systems and methods.
2. Copyright Notice/Permission
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and data as described below and in the drawings hereto: Copyright 2004, 2005, Cyberscan Technology Inc., All Rights Reserved.
3. Description of the Related Art
Conventional cashless methods and systems typically rely on centralized accounts (player accounts, anonymous game session accounts, voucher verification accounts, smartcard reconciliation accounts) that are managed by a complex central system (i.e., controlled or coupled to a central server). Such systems require the services of highly trained professionals and the maintenance of stringent security procedures. This leads to high operational costs that are not acceptable for small to medium sized gaming operators. Centralized systems of the prior art are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,328, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,874 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,269.
What are needed, therefore, are cashless gaming methods and systems that overcome the complexity, cost and manpower of conventional gaming methods and systems.